Traveling allows you to experience and become a part of a different culture

By Ari Chesterman, Year Course 2014-2015

Feelings of excitement and nervousness mixed in my chest as I set out on my first ever siyur of Young Judaea’s Year Course program.  The more this hot day passed by, the more I began to realize just how much fun this year was going to be.

We traveled as a group to the City of David. I had been there twice before, but this time was different. In the past I had not gone with a tour guide specifically from City of David. I was also surrounded by my peers this time. Over this trip I learned a lesson I hadn’t discovered with my previous visits.  Different is not always bad.  This visit to City of David certainly was different than my previous visits, but was a good thing. Avreimy, our tour guide, made the experience a cross between educational and interesting. Not to mention, ice cream was amazing.

We started off on a bus that took us to a spot a little bit outside City of David and continued on to the main plaza outside of the archeological site. I thought we were meeting was just another tour guide. It became abundantly clear I was wrong. Before we even started the tour he gave us some background about himself, including a story about the importance of names. In fact, Avreimy, born Avraham, was soon given his nickname of Avreimy, which he tried to ditch as a teenager. He came close to going by Max, but it didn’t stick due to a friend’s meddling. As we walked around a little bit I was pleasantly surprised to see how energetic and knowledgeable Avreimy was. His overall demeanor made the tour fun, and his thorough explanations made the tour informative.

 

After his introduction, he took us up a staircase and onto a roof of an old building and from there we could see the most beautiful panoramic view of Jerusalem.  Avreimy used us to represent different locations, like the Temple and other surrounding important historical buildings. Then we continued down to the tunnels. This was my third time going through the tunnels and it was also the best experience I have had walking through the tunnels. We spent the entire walk through knee deep in water, belting out songs, and I truly believe that my class connected as a group. Something about walking in the dark belting out Disney songs helps you bond.

Each location we stopped at held new and valuable information. [just put one thing you learned at each stop and why it proves the Bible happened or didn’t] [conclude with something among the lines that it provides convincing proof of small aspects of the Bible, but doesn’t come close to proving David was the the location]

I learned so many new and exciting facts on this trip, i definitely this that it was a winner. What an amazing start to what is clearly going to be an amazing year

In late September, Rabbi Rob Kahn led his Zionist History class to Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem for a siyur, or trip, into the origins of Modern Zionism.  Below are two reflections from the trip written by two of Rob’s students.

 Is Israel living up to Herzl’s dream?

by Naomi Solkowitz

As a Judaean I have spent a lot of time learning about Theodore Herzl by reading the Zionist idea, visiting Har Herzl on Machon (Young Judaea’s Summer Program in Israel), but today, after visiting Har Herzl I started to wonder whether Israel is truly living up to Herzl’s dream.

Herzl’s plan was to give the Jews sovereignty and create a state for the Jews. This is where the first issue comes up. Is Israel a “State for the Jews” or a “Jewish State”? Israel is a Jewish State. Israeli law is based on Jewish law and Jewish values and Jewish holidays are national holidays. Restaurants are kosher, buses do not run on Shabbat and Ben Gurion airport closes on Yom Kippur. Of course these are all generalizations, but they are all little things that make Israel a Jewish State.

In Herzl’s writing when approached with the question about language he says “We cannot converse with one another in Hebrew.” Herzl wanted a common language to be spoken. Herzl wanted “those miserable stunted jargons” to be lost. Herzl’s idea of Political Zionism included Israel being a great, exemplary nation that would be able to work with other countries, but he did not think Israel could be that nation if they spoke a dead language. Furthermore, Hebrew is another example of how Israel is a Jewish State, and not a State for the Jews. The Jewish People in Israel brought back Hebrew to revive their religion and culture.

Getting to the big question, Herzl’s goal in his Zionist idea was to get rid of Anti-Semitism, “if we only begin to carry out the plans, Anti-Semitism would stop at once and for ever. For it is the conclusion of peace.” Look at what is happening in Europe, more specifically in England and France. Of course Israel is always a safe haven for people to escape Anti-Semitism, but the creation of the State of Israel absolutely did not stop Anti-Semitism. In that sense Israel was a failure to the Jewish Question.

Although there are many things that Israel does not fulfill according to Herzl’s dream, Jews have their sovereignty and have a place to go to escape Anti-Semintism. Israel, while it has many flaws, is still an exemplary country with many Start Ups and achievements in the world.

Herzl and Ahad Ha’am: Contrasting Visions

By Dana Little

The second siyur that Rob Kahn’s Zionism class went on was to Mount Herzl. This was convenient being that Herzl was the founding father of Zionism. An outline of the day was: visited Herzl’s grave, read inserts of Herzl’s plan to establish the state of Israel, toured the Herzl museum, answered questions about Herzl, read about Asher Ginsberg (Ahad Ha’am), compared and contrasted his plan of establishing Israel to that of Herzl’s and said our closing words around the grave of Herzl.

I learned a lot on this trip both about Herzl and the establishment of the state of Israel. Herzl was not the first person to call for the creation of a Jewish state, however he created a movement that marked out a path exactly how to do so. He led the Zionist movement from 1897 until his death in 1904. He wrote down specifically what he envisioned the state of Israel, the Jewish homeland, in Der Judenstaat. He believed that with the establishment of the Jewish state, people could come together in an environment free of racial Anti-Semitism. He was the founder of political Zionism.

I found the Herzl museum very interesting, informative and effective. It was a very unique museum for it was a motion picture telling the story of an actor rehearsing for his role as Herzl. After the museum, we read an insert of Ahad Ha’am. We learned that Ahad Ha’am did not agree with much of what Herzl recommended, rather he criticized most of it and thought differently. He believed that with the creation of small Jewish settlements, that would lead to a state. Also, with the state of Israel, it would help reinforce Jewish life in the Diaspora.

Ahad Ha’am was the founder of cultural Zionism. Together as a class, we charted the differences between Herzl and Ahad Ha’am. They contrasted in certain ways such as Herzl said the language of the Jewish state would be the majority of what the people were speaking, however Ahad Ha’am said Hebrew. Herzl said the location of the Jewish state was less important than the fact of its existence, while Ahad Ha’am insisted that it be in Israel. By contrasting the two leaders, we were able to make some conclusions about which parts of Israel were influenced by which leader. The last moments of the siyur, we watched as groups of soldiers paid homage to Herzl’s grave. As a class, we then surrounded his grave and said some last words. This siyur helped me connect to Israel in a way that I was proud. I was proud for what Israel, as a state, had accomplished. Even though Herzl was not alive to witness the establishment of Israel in 1948, his dreams for a Jewish state ultimately came true. This gives me a good feeling

Over the next few months we will be posting occasional blogs written by students in Rabbi Rob Kahn’s classes “City of Faith” and “Ideology.”  In our first installment, Evan Dolgow writes about a class tour to numerous burial sites in Jerusalem that represent the diversity and power of the city.

 What can I say? Starting from the foundation of Jerusalem to exploring Jewish history through archaeology was phenomenal. Our group, led by Rabbi Rob Kahn, began the exploration at a fountain on the edge of Yemin Moshe. Even though I have ignorantly passed that fountain over a dozen times in my life, little did I know the meaning was so significant.

(The fountain at Yemin Moshe.)

The fountain structure is composed of three main water spouts. The spouts are stacked three levels high, which slowly point to a dove at the top of the structure. The three spouts represent the three main religions of Jerusalem: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. The spouts point to a brass dove portraying the coexistence and that efforts towards peace should persist. What a way to start the day! We then made our way to a number of other sites in Jerusalem including a centuries old first-temple burial cave, Oskar Schindler‘s grave, David’s tomb, the room of the last supper, and finally, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Virgin Mary’s burial crypt.

Sounds exhausting but with enough energy we kept on moving! We discussed how the sites represented something bigger than the physical aspects, something bigger than all of us. These sites represent the magnificence of coexisting religions, especially in the holy land of Israel. While we paused for a few moments overlooking a view covering the Jewish section of Jerusalem to the Muslim section of East Jerusalem, I realized something very important; politics play a key role in the land feud to the deep seeded hatred amongst all the religions. Removing the political factor, I saw three peaceful sections living in each others presence. Although not always the friendliest towards one another, this was no pre-1967! I glanced back at history and tried to imagine the battle ground and guaranteed, what I saw yesterday was no battleground! Remember, at the end of the day Israel is only 65 years old. In any book, that’s a country just starting to walk.

 

Walking through Jerusalem’s streets of history really proves that peace is underway. Whether land is given up or unilateral actions are taken, people are people and everyone is innately attracted to peace. From the old Jewish cemeteries to watching an Ethiopian Christian ceremony in front of Mary’s tomb, I truly believe that peace is possible. After all, Jerusalem is no longer a war zone.

(Ethiopian ceremony at Virgin Mary’s tomb. They were very nice and loved to talk once a few of us began to speak with them.)